An ablator is attached to a re-entry vehicle which carries out a reentry from the space to the atmosphere (e.g. a re-entry recovery capsule and a space go and return vehicle) to protect a fuselage of the vehicle from the aerodynamic heating upon re-entering. The ablator is a structure that blocks off the transfer of heat to the fuselage main unit by pyrolyzation, and generally, is formed of resin or a composite material of resin and inorganic substance (fiber). For example, Patent Literature 1 (JP 2013-121786A) discloses an ablator that contains an inner layer ablator composed of first fiber impregnated with first resin and an outer layer ablator composed of the first fiber impregnated with the first resin and being of a lower density than the inner layer ablator. Also, Patent Literature 2 (JP H09-316217A) discloses an ablator impregnated in carbon fiber/carbon composite material with phenol resin.
Also, Non-Patent Literature 1 (Miread Stackpoole et al., “Development of Low Density Flexible Carbon Phenolic Ablators”, NSMMS-2011, Jun. 27-30, 2011, Madison, Wis.) discloses an ablator having flexibility. The general ablator manufactured by curing resin does not have the flexibility. Accordingly, the ablator needs to be shaped to fit to the fuselage shape by using a jig (e.g. a mold), or to carry out cut processing and polish processing to fit to the fuselage shape after the curing. However, such a technique requires a jig cost and a processing cost and there is a problem with respect to the cost. On the other hand, the ablator having the flexibility is possible to transform the ablator according to the fuselage shape when attaching to the fuselage. Accordingly, the jig and the processing to fit to the fuselage shape are unnecessary, so that it is effective in the reduction of cost. The ablator disclosed in Non-Patent Literature 1 is composed of carbon fiber (fiber form and felt) and phenol resin impregnated in the fiber. Note that the ablator having the flexibility is also disclosed in Patent Literature 3 (U.S. Pat. No. 7,931,962).